Marketxt Inc

Designed for the masses, MarketXT Inc.'s after-hours stock trading system is attracting just a few stragglers. MarketXT, which advertises itself as the after-hours system designed specifically for the individual investor, says it has been trading anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 shares a night since beginning operation Aug. 25. Most nights, though, it appears to be closer to 10,000--and usually there are no bids or offers posted for the majority of the stocks traded on the system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that its probe into Nasdaq found that employees saw suspicious trading by MarketXT, an electronic communications network, in 2002 but failed to tell NASD's regulatory arm. The SEC said Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and parent NASD have taken remedial steps to strengthen their roles in self-regulatory oversight of the market. Nasdaq and NASD, formerly the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, did not admit or deny the findings.

MarketXT Inc. executed 142 orders and traded about $3.5 million worth of stock in its inaugural after-hours session Wednesday. Investors placed about 1,200 orders during the two-hour session, meaning about 12% of orders were completed. Like most competing after-hours systems, MarketXT requires investors to place "limit" orders specifying the prices at which they would buy or sell shares.

Tradescape.com, a fast-growing online brokerage, is expected to announce today that it will buy one of the leading after-hours stock-trading venues, in a deal that could accelerate the availability of sophisticated trading systems to small investors. The New York-based brokerage and software firm will shell out $100 million in stock to acquire MarketXT Inc.

Tradescape.com, a fast-growing online brokerage, is expected to announce today that it will buy one of the leading after-hours stock-trading venues, in a deal that could accelerate the availability of sophisticated trading systems to small investors. The New York-based brokerage and software firm will shell out $100 million in stock to acquire MarketXT Inc.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that its probe into Nasdaq found that employees saw suspicious trading by MarketXT, an electronic communications network, in 2002 but failed to tell NASD's regulatory arm. The SEC said Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and parent NASD have taken remedial steps to strengthen their roles in self-regulatory oversight of the market. Nasdaq and NASD, formerly the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, did not admit or deny the findings.

In another step toward round-the-clock stock trading, the Island trading network plans to let investors trade from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. California time within three months, the president of the holding company that owns the No. 2 trading network said Tuesday. The early morning hours are primarily for non-U.S. investors, said Edward Nicoll, president and chief operating officer of Datek Online Holdings Corp., which owns 85% of Island.

The after-hours trading game will get three new players today when Discover Brokerage and Dreyfus Brokerage Services announce that they're offering late trading immediately through MarketXT Inc. The two brokerages will offer extended trading Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. Pacific time. Customers will initially be able to trade stocks in the Standard & Poor's 100 and Nasdaq 100 indexes. The hours and number of available stocks will eventually be expanded, the companies said.

Wall Street's mad dash toward 24-hour stock trading for individual investors accelerated Tuesday as online brokerage E-Trade Group said it is joining with electronic trading network Instinet to roll out after-hours trading by next month. The No. 2 Internet broker said its 1.2 million customers will be able to trade weekdays from 1 p.m. Pacific time--just as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market close--until 3:30 p.m.

Designed for the masses, MarketXT Inc.'s after-hours stock trading system is attracting just a few stragglers. MarketXT, which advertises itself as the after-hours system designed specifically for the individual investor, says it has been trading anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 shares a night since beginning operation Aug. 25. Most nights, though, it appears to be closer to 10,000--and usually there are no bids or offers posted for the majority of the stocks traded on the system.

MarketXT Inc. executed 142 orders and traded about $3.5 million worth of stock in its inaugural after-hours session Wednesday. Investors placed about 1,200 orders during the two-hour session, meaning about 12% of orders were completed. Like most competing after-hours systems, MarketXT requires investors to place "limit" orders specifying the prices at which they would buy or sell shares.